The European Cup Finals 2014 of Men's and Women's Downhill Skiing have started in Grandvalira on a beautiful day that welcomed participants with sun and warm temperatures. There were two races on the first day of the competition: the final of the men's giant slalom and the first women's downhill race; both won by Austrian skiers.
Men's giant slalom final
Manuel Feller claimed victory in the giant slalom final contested on the Avet slope in Soldeu. The Austrian was the most consistent in both races and won with an overall time of 2:16:58. Feller finished fourth in both races with times of 1:07:75 and 1:08:83. Thomas Tumler of Switzerland came in second with a time of 2:16:93, and Norwegian Rasmus Wiindingstad came in third with 2:16:98.
Victor Muffat-Jeandet of France was fastest in the first run with 1:07:14, finishing in fourth place, while Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, with the fastest time in the second descent (1:07:75) could only manage seventh place.
Marc Oliveras was the best of the Andorran participants in 28th place (2:21:13), while the other four finished among the last four between 36th and 39th place. As for the Spanish, in the end the only racer scheduled to take part in the race, Pol Carreras, did not enter the competition.
Manuel Feller, the winner in Grandvalira today, said he was very "happy with the first race, which set me up well to repeat the good performance in the second race. I am very happy with the victory and the race organization and layout of the Avet slope. I really enjoyed skiing today."
Men's overall giant slalom
In the European Cup overall giant slalom, once all the races had been contested, Czech Zan Kranjec came out as the winner with 439 points, finishing today in fifth place. Behind him was Thomas Tumler with 308 points and in third place was the German Dominik Schwaiger (300 points), who finished ninth in the last race in Grandvalira.
"My season in the European Cup has been almost perfect, but I never expected to take the overall championship. It has been a very pleasant surprise. I hope this victory in the European Cup can help me do well in next year's World Cup," said Kranjec after his victory.
Women's downhill
The Àliga slope was used for the first time for the European Cup Finals when the first of the two women's downhill race scheduled this week was contested. This trial, which replaces the one that did not go ahead in Sella Nevea, saw the Austrian Tamara Tippler emerge victorious, with a time of 1:37:50 putting her just 51 hundredths ahead of Corinne Suter of Switzerland, who was recently crowned world junior champion in both the downhill and super-giant slalom events in Jasna (Slovakia) Czech Klara Krizova completed the podium in third place, just 0.75 seconds behind the winner.
42 racers participated in the race, although not a single Spanish skier was among them. The two Andorran representatives, Carmina and Sara Ramentol finished in the last two places, 41st and 42nd respectively.
With no race tomorrow, Norwegian Maria Therese Tviber, who has not participated in Grandvalira, dominates the overall downhill standings in the European Cup ahead of Corinne Suter and Austrian Stephanie Venier.
Wednesday 12
Tomorrow, Wednesday 1 March, two more finals will be contested. In the men's, it is the turn of the slalom, which will be staged on the Avet slope of Soldeu. The first race starts at 9.30 a.m. and the second at 12.30 p.m. In the women's category, the Àliga slope will host the second downhill trial starting at 10.00.